Not everyone wants pot to be legalized, but a majority of Americans think the federal government should step back and let states choose how to deal with the drug, according to a recent poll.

About 63 percent of Americans think the federal government should not contest states’ decision to legalize marijuana, according to a Gallup poll released Friday.

The results came one day after Washington state officially made marijuana legal. Colorado is following suit.

The poll finds public support for allowing individual states to vote on how to best legalize (and then regulate) marijuana, said Steve Fox, Marijuana Policy Project director of government relations, in a statement. About a third of those polled said President Barack Obama should prevent the laws from being implemented.

Allister Adams smokes marijuana, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012, just after midnight at the Space Needle in Seattle. Possession of marijuana became legal in Washington state at midnight. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

“These polls are making it quite clear that most Americans do not want the federal government to stand in the way after a state’s voters have approved a ballot measure to make marijuana legal for adults,” Fox said.

“It’s not just the people of Colorado and Washington who want to see these ballot measures implemented in accordance with the will of voters. It’s nearly two-thirds of all Americans. ”

Texans, however conservative, can get on board with the states’ rights rationale for marijuana legalization, said Josh Schimberg, executive director of the Texas branch of NORML, an national group advocating for reforming marijuana laws.

Although Schimberg conceded it’s unlikely the Lone Star State will legalize pot anytime soon, at least some Texans back Colorado and Washington voters’ decision. Nationally, about 43 percent of people who said they don’t think marijuana should be legalized said the federal government still should let Washington and Colorado’s legislation take effect.

“When voters speak that solidly in favor of something, they don’t like to have it gone back on by elected officials,” Schimberg said. “It’s a matter of democracy.”

Even Gov. Rick Perry, who disagrees with legalizing the drug, has spoken in favor of states’ rights to legalize pot. Two other Texans, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul and state Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston, introduced legislation reducing legal penalties of marijuana. Paul’s bill would take marijuana off the federal controlled substance list.